This is just a short little ficlet I dreamed up. Hope you enjoy!


Walter walked downstairs from the loft, intending to close up for the night and go to bed. He'd cleared half the floor of the garage when he stopped, surprised to see Paige curled up asleep on the couch, a few papers and a pen still in her hand.

He felt bad; there had been a massive amount of property damage in their last case, and with massive damage came massive paperwork. Walter gently pulled the materials from her hands and put them on his desk, intending to do them tomorrow to lighten her load.

Walter considered the blanket hanging on the back of the couch, but it was only a thin knit blanket, and a small one at that. He went back upstairs and found a bigger, thicker blanket, one that was soft. Making his way back downstairs, he draped the blanket over her, double checking that her feet were covered.

He then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It had been laying across her face, over her nose, and he'd imagine that would be uncomfortable. He saw that the corners of her mouth had turned up in a vague smile. Against his better judgement, Walter let his hand linger there behind her ear, his fingers threading into her hair, and he smoothed his thumb lightly over her cheek. He studied her features, trying to catalogue everything about her in that moment, not knowing when he would get another chance to see her like this again, so relaxed and content.

Then her eyes fluttered open, and her gaze lifted to meet his. Walter froze for a moment, then he snatched his hand back as if he'd put his hand in coals.

"S-sorry. Um." He cleared his throat, trying to recover. Beginning to back away, he said, "uh, feel free to stay here if you like." Then he spun on his heels, and he'd never closed up the garage so fast in his life. But as he reached the top of the stairs, he managed to remember to say, "Uh, sweet dreams," before ducking into his bedroom.

Paige had only been half asleep when she heard Walter come down the stairs. When she felt him drape a blanket over her, she hadn't been able to contain her smile at his thoughtfulness. She'd been about to surrender herself to the warmth, but then she felt his hand in her hair, and his thumb on her cheek, and it gave her goosebumps. He'd simply stayed there, and the feel of his stare made her open her eyes to look at him. And the way he was looking at her... it made her breath hitch. They'd both frozen, locked in each others gaze, but the spell was broken when he snatched his hand away.

She propped herself up on her elbow as he clumsily backed up and began apologizing. Paige wanted to tell him it was okay, but she'd forgotten how to speak. She watched helplessly as he dashed upstairs, but a smile warmed her lips when he said, "Sweet dreams."

Paige eased back to a laying position and closed her eyes, seeing Walter's face and the adoration in his eyes. If he was like that when they weren't even a couple, how would he be if they were together...? Out of habit, she started to nip that thought in the bud. But then she remembered what Toby said about Walter's broken heart, and she began to wonder... Maybe they could recover. Maybe they could more than recover.

Maybe they really could have everything they'd been wanting for so long.

Paige sighed, "Sweet dreams, Walter."